The South African economy was hit hard by the global economic crisis of 2008/2009. The country’s manufacturing industry contracted sharply, and its subsequent recovery has been insufficient for the volume of manufacturing production to return to its pre-crisis level. Figure 1 shows SA’s manufacturing production (volume) compared with OECD industrial production.1 Preliminary manufacturing data for   read more »

A growing number of forecasts reveal that food prices might rise sharply in coming months. Survey data show which parts of the country are most vulnerable. Current data point to an agriculture industry that is struggling. During November 2015, in the midst of South Africa’s worst drought in 23 years, Stats SA released gross domestic   read more »

Data from Stats SA’s Annual financial statistics (AFS) report shows that the debt-to-equity ratio for the private sector as a whole has dropped since 2005. The debt-to-equity ratio is a measure of how much debt a company or industry has incurred to finance its operations relative to equity. Debt refers to how much an industry   read more »

“Our job is only to hold up the mirror – to tell and show the public what has happened.” Walter Cronkite The Statistician-General for South Africa, Dr Pali Lehohla, today handed over the results of the 2015 KwaZulu-Natal Citizen Satisfaction Survey (CSS) to the Premier of KwaZulu-Natal, the honourable Mr Edward Mchunu.  Handing over the   read more »

South Africa’s Statistician-General, Mr Pali Lehohla, was today honoured with an honorary Doctor of Commerce (DCom) degree from the University of Stellenbosch, in recognition of his role in the development of statistics in the country and beyond. The university honoured Mr Lehohla for his trendsetting approach to statistics, innovative leadership and his commitment to enhancing   read more »

Statistics South Africa (Stats SA) today launched the next in its suite of innovative products, designed to make information easily accessible. The original app was launched on 30 October 2012, simultaneous with the launch of the Census 2011 results, the first set of data that was made available on the app. Mobile phone technology has   read more »

African Statistics Day is celebrated every year on November 18. This celebration of African statistics aims to increase public awareness of the important role that statistics plays in all aspects of social and economic life in Africa and in preserving the environment in which people live. The theme for this year’s event is “Better data   read more »

With South Africa in the grip of drought, the role of local municipalities to provide clean water, maintain infrastructure, and reduce wastage has become more important than ever. Recent data on staff vacancies show which municipalities are struggling to fill funded posts in their water management departments. Municipalities in Free State seem to be struggling   read more »

Challenges and opportunities in advancing human endeavor through SDGs: Guarding against the tyranny of technology and numerology Pali Lehohla Statistician-General South Africa 5th OECD World Forum on Statistics, Knowledge and Policy Guadalajara Mexico 13-15 October 2015 The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) present the last opportunity for the universe to mend its ways and advance human   read more »

By Pali Lehohla “Better data, better lives”, is the commitment from official statistics organisations across the world as part of celebrating World Statistics Day, October 20 2015.  Guided by the Fundamental Priniciples of Official Statistics and the call from United Nations General Secretary Ban Ki-Moon that “statistics are critical for evidence-based decision making across all   read more »